


Many Worthy Reasons

by tymedfire



Series: Knights & Merlin (+ Gwen) [1]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Hurt Merlin, Hurt/Comfort, Merlin loves his friends, Minor Injuries, Minor Violence, Serious Injuries, but not really, i mean he gets hurt but it's not graphic and not actually the point of the fic, kinda whumpish?, mentions of Lancelot, plot twist: the title is not from a song, this is my elyan and merlin bro fic!!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-05
Updated: 2018-03-05
Packaged: 2019-03-27 14:51:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,051
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13883154
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tymedfire/pseuds/tymedfire
Summary: It really figured that when Merlin ended up on the ground with two arrows in his shoulder, it wasn’t because they had been aimed at Arthur and he had jumped in front of him.





	Many Worthy Reasons

**Author's Note:**

> I'm supposed to be writing the next installment in my "The Sun, The Moon, and The Truth" series, but I did this and two other fics instead. Go figure. I have no self-discipline, please help.

Merlin’s destiny was to protect King Arthur and make sure he united all of Albion. Despite his initial misgivings, he accepted it. 

But, eventually, it became more.

Merlin wanted to protect Arthur because he was his friend, not because a cranky old dragon told him to. And, eventually, that courtesy extended past just Arthur to Gwen, and Morgana, and the Knights of the Round Table, as they liked to call themselves.

Because they were more than just his friends; they were his family, his brothers and sisters, his King and Queen. The reason he did everything he did. 

So, it really figured that when Merlin ended up on the ground with two arrows in his shoulder, it wasn’t because they had been aimed at Arthur and he had jumped in front of him.

They had been aimed at Sir Elyan. 

He hadn’t even thought. He’d just seen the arrows whizzing towards Elyan, too fast, and had reacted; he’d jumped in front of the startled Elyan with a shout, shoving him to the ground in the process (which nobody mentions should really not have been possible considering Merlin’s and Elyan’s respective statures). The rest of the Knights had moved about in a frenzy as the ambush continued. Elyan lay under Merlin, staring at the servant with wide, shocked eyes, until a bandit edged toward them and Elyan had shoved Merlin as gently as he could off him and jumped up, attacking the bandits with a vengeance. (It didn’t register to Merlin until much later that Elyan had stayed beside him, protected him, until the last bandit was dead.)

Dimly, Merlin heard voices above his moaning, but he couldn’t muster up the energy to turn his head enough to see who it was. 

“He saved me. Those arrows would have gone straight to my heart.” Elyan, Merlin was pretty sure, sounded dazed. 

“I don’t know why you’re so shocked,” Gwaine’s voice was right beside Merlin and it was tinged with worry and anger. “It’s _Merlin_. He has zero self-preservation.”  
“I think what Elyan means is that Merlin’s self-sacrificing tendencies, at least in situations like this, are usually directed at the King.”

Merlin yelled as someone shifted him to his uninjured shoulder. “Yer m’ friend… don’... die.” 

A hand gently patted Merlin’s head and Elyan said, “Yes, well, thank you, my friend, for saving my life. Just make sure you don’t die, either.”

 

\--

 

Merlin wakes up to soft humming and soft hands. One hand holds his while the other strokes his cheek. He shifts and tries to chase the warm, comforting feeling the hands bring, and they freeze. 

“I think he’s waking up!” A high voice whisper-shouts and the hand lays fully on his cheek now, thumb stroking just under his eye soothingly. 

“Merlin? Merlin, can you hear me? Gwaine, go get Arthur and Gaius,” another voice, this one significantly lower, joins the others soft murmurs. Merlin tries to open his eyes, but it’s hard, and he’s starting to feel pain in his shoulder. He shifts and cries out.

“Don’t move, and don’t try to open your eyes just yet. Just relax, sweetheart, you’re okay. Elyan, grab the draught for pain that Gaius left. No, to the right.” The hands -- Gwen’s -- leave him. “Elyan is going to help you sit up, okay? I’m going to give you something for the pain.” Rough, calloused hands, hot against his skin, (when had they taken his shirt off?) lift him into a sitting position. Something is pressed to his lips and he automatically opens and swallows the draught. 

Elyan doesn’t move after Gwen takes the bottle away; he just sits behind Merlin, holding him up and rubbing his hand up and down Merlin’s arm soothingly. “I…” Elyan’s breath is hot against Merlin’s ear. “I just… thank you, Merlin. You saved my life. Thank you.” 

Before Merlin can respond, the door slams open and Merlin jumps, his eyes flying open painfully. He immediately squints, but he can make out Gwen to his right at Gaius’s work table, and Gaius himself pushing through the door (and Arthur and Gwaine) and making his way to Merlin’s bedside. 

“How do you feel, my boy?”

“Kinda like I got shot in the shoulder,” Merlin says drily.

Gwaine snorts and grins at him while Arthur and Gaius both roll their eyes. 

“Well, if your sense of humor is still intact, then it can’t be that bad. Now, what are your symptoms?”

Merlin scrunches his nose. “Eyes hurt. The light is too bright.”

“Gwaine, could you pull the curtains over the windows, please?” He does. “Better?” Gaius asks kindly.

Merlin sighs in relief when the streams of light disappear. “Much. I’m just tired.” 

“Well then, after you drink this for the pain, we will let you rest, my boy. Everybody out.” Gaius ushers a protesting King and knight out of the room. 

Gwen lingers for a second before walking swiftly over to Merlin. When she reaches him, she cups his face in her hands and kisses his forehead softly. “Thank you, Merlin, for saving my brother.” She smiles at him before leaning forward so that her mouth is level with his ear. “Lancelot was right,” she whispers, “you really are the bravest of us all.”

Merlin is too tired to process what she says completely, but he’s pretty sure he’s gonna have a lot to think about once he wakes up.

With that said, Gwen stands, dusts of her skirt, and leaves, smiling at Gaius on her way out.

“I think I’ll stay, if that’s okay with you, Gaius. And you, Merlin.” Elyan says hesitantly. 

Gaius raises an eyebrow at Merlin, who nods, before leaving. Elyan, who was still propping Merlin up, slowly moves him back to lay on the bed. After he’s settled, Elyan takes Gwen’s vacated stool. He looks slightly nervous, and Merlin smiles at him. 

“You’re welcome.”

“What?”

“Earlier, you were thanking me for saving you. You’re welcome.”

“Oh, right. Yeah.” Elyan fidgets nervously and Merlin’s smile grows, even as his eyelids start to droop. 

“You don’t have to stay here, you know. You can go… be all knightly and all that.”

Elyan looks at him for a few seconds. When he speaks, his lips are pulled up in a slight smile, and he finally sounds sure. 

“No. I’m good here.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Comment things that you want to see between Merlin and another character and I might be able to fit it in, though I can't promise anything. The stories write themselves, I only get a little bit of say in it. Have a wonderful day!


End file.
